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Gender Disparities in General Surgery Resident Subspecialization
Danielle Wilson1, Erica Engstrand1, Leah Schoel2
1Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA.
The American Surgeon
|June 10, 2023
Summary
Recent general surgery graduates show gender disparities in fellowship choices. While most pursue further training, men and women gravitate towards different surgical subspecialties.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Surgical Subspecialization
- Gender Studies in Medicine
Background:
- Increasing number of women entering medical school and general surgery residency.
- Persistent underrepresentation of women in certain surgical subspecialties.
- Need to examine gender-based trends in fellowship choices among new surgeons.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate gender differences in fellowship subspecialization.
- Analyze fellowship choices of general surgery residents graduating between 2016 and 2020.
Main Methods:
- Identified general surgery residency graduates from 2016-2020.
- Collected fellowship entry and gender data from residency websites.
- Analyzed gender-based fellowship selection using SPSS.
Main Results:
- 82.4% of graduates entered fellowship training.
- Men more frequently chose Cardiothoracic, Plastic, and Vascular Surgery fellowships.
- Women more frequently chose Breast, Acute Care/Trauma, Pediatric, and Endocrine Surgery fellowships.
Conclusions:
- Most general surgery graduates pursue fellowship training.
- Gender disparities persist in the selection of specific surgical subspecialties.
- Both male and female surgeons exhibit distinct subspecialty preferences.
